San Diego utility to pay $6M for 2007 wildfires

SAN DIEGO (AP) - San Diego Gas & Electric Co. has agreed to pay the federal government $6.4 million to settle claims over wildfires that ravaged Southern California in 2007.

The U.S. attorney's office in San Diego said Monday that the payment covers all costs to the federal government related to a fire that burned more than 69 square miles in Cleveland National Forest east of San Diego.

Government investigators have found that the San Diego utility's power lines were at least partly responsible for three major fires that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,300 homes.

The utility has already settled claims with state, county and city governments. It had paid a total of $1.55 billion in claims as of the end of June.

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